Overview
This article explains how to create and manage Measures within Planning & Self-Study. By the end of this guide, Assessment Coordinators and Faculty will be able to create new measures or use the Measure Library to add existing measures to their assessment plans.
A Measure is the practical method by which an outcome will be assessed. For instance, a Learning Outcome may be concerned with students' written communication skills. In this case, an essay assignment might serve as the Measure by which the organization will indicate progress against this outcome.
There are three distinct areas in Planning & Self Study where Measures may be created against an Outcome:
- In an Assessment Plan
- In the Curriculum Map
- In the Outcomes area
These methods are described individually below.
Creating Measures in an Assessment Plan
After entering an Assessment Plan, the organization’s selected outcomes appear. Expanding an outcome provides options for adding measures.
- To add a Measure to an Outcome, first expand the Outcome. To create a new measure, click New Measure.
Complete the following fields:
- Method: Select whether the measure is Direct or Indirect and choose a subtype (e.g., Assignment).
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Course(required, only available to Program-type Organizations): If a Measure is collected from a Course in the Program's curriculum, this field will be used to identify that Course. The dropdown menu will produce Courses to select. If the Course does not appear on this list, it will need to be affiliated to the Program.
*Note: If a course is missing, refer to the article below. Course alignment can only be done by a user with System Administration.
Aligning Courses to Programs Manually
Aligning Courses to Programs via Import
- If the measure is not course-based, select the This is a non-course based measure checkbox.
- Title: Enter a descriptive name for the measure.
- Results Collection: Complete this only if the institution integrates with a Learning Management System (LMS) or other Watermark products. See Collecting Results for details.
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Target: Define success criteria (e.g., "80% of students will achieve a score of 3 or above")
- Note: There is no character limit for this description area.
- Description: Enter a brief summary of the activity.
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Attach Documents: Upload up to five supporting files.
- Once finished, select Add in the upper right-hand corner.
- A prompt will appear asking whether Results are ready to be entered. Selecting No, Continue Later will return the user to the Plan page where more Measures can be added. Selecting Yes, Manage Results Now will present the user with the appropriate screen for adding assessment results and findings.
For information on populating the rest of Assessment Plan, please see the resource linked below:
How to Enter Results, Findings, and Actions in an Assessment Plan
*Note- This page can be returned to later to edit or revise the Measure. For more information on Editing vs. Revising Measures, please see the section on Measures in the article linked below:
Maintaining Past History in Assessment Plans
Selecting an Existing Measure
If the Organization has created measures in past plans, they can be reused through the library.
- Select from existing measures (available only if existing measures are present).
- Use the search bar or filter by method (Direct/Indirect) to find a measure.
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Check the box for the desired measure and select Save Selections.
- Once a selection is made, click Save Selections.
Creating Measures in the Curriculum Map
Measures created in curriculum maps do not automatically appear in plans.
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Select Enter Program on the homepage (Screenshot shown is from a Contributor's view).
- Select Curriculum from the left-hand menu. If the Curriculum Map has not yet been created, please see the resource below for information on creating the map: How to Create and Edit Curriculum Maps
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Select the Pencil Icon to edit the Curriculum Map.
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Click the Icon where the Outcome and Course/Activity meet in the grid. For example, if a user wanted to create a Measure of the "Apply Mathematical Principles" outcome, tied to Course "MECH 102", they would click here:
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In the side panel that appears, select Add Measure.
*Note: As certain data points are already established, such as the relevant Outcome and Course, the Measure creation panel is more streamlined here than in the Plan.
Once the Measure is created, it will appear on the fly-out for this Course-Outcome alignment, along with any other Measures that have already been created for this pairing. The associated Plans that the Measures have been added to will be listed under the Reference column.
Creating Measures in the Outcomes Area
Administrators can manage measures via Organization Management. Leads and general users can use the following steps:
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Select Enter Program for the organization on the homepage.
- Select Program Information (this may be labeled "Department Information" depending on the organization type).
- Locate the Outcomes section in the center of the screen.
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Select Manage Measures beneath an individual outcome.
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Select Create New Measure, fill out the fields, and select Create Measure.